Jonathon Berman, (202) 495-3033, joanthon.berman@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC -- Today, the U.S. Senate voted down a vote that would have paved the way for revoking the Bureau of Land Management’s methane waste prevention rule, a standard which would prevent the leaking and flaring of methane from oil and gas operations on public and tribal lands. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto voted against the bill while Senator Dean Heller voted in favor of nullifying the rule.
Late yesterday, the Bureau of Land Management announced that it will offer leases on 196,000 acres in Nevada’s Nye, Lander, and Eureka counties for oil and gas development. Should Heller and those who sided with him prevailed today, all fossil fuel operations on public land would have been permitted to leak and vent methane.
In response, Sierra Club Organizer Christian Gerlach released the following statement:
“The Sierra Club applauds Senator Cortez Masto for putting Nevada’s public lands and our health before corporate polluters’ profits and standing with the 79-percent of Nevadans who supported this rule. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Senator Heller, who once again chose the fossil fuel industry over the people. In his six years in the Senate, Heller has repeatedly ignored the wishes of the people, siding instead with those who fill his campaign coffers. Nevadans have taken notice, and we will continue to make our voices heard until Heller listens.”
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